Can You Promise Me?
by Shinju Hikari
Summary: What if all witches and wizards had seemingly never existed? Four chapters at most
1. Chapter 1

The needle went through the fabric with ease. Sophie sighed. Day in and day out, this is what she did. The workers had all left, leaving her alone for the rest of the day. Did they really appreciate her hard work? Probably. Would they let her keep working until she was a wrinkled senile women? She would insist upon it. She continued sewing ornaments on the hats. A train went by, dark smoke blowing past the closed window. She should go visit Lettie; she had been pestering Sophie about it for days. She finished up the hat- which was red and quite lovely, if Sophie did say so herself- and gathered her things. She tried on multiple hats before deciding she was too ugly to be able to pull any of them off. She selected the plain hat that she always wore and headed to the bakery. It was crowded in the bakery, as per usual. People were chatting to Lettie so much she was overwhelmed. Sophie sighed with jealousy. She wished men would stare at her like that. "Oh, Sophie!" Lettie waved her over and left her post at the counter. There were groans of protest from the customers and Lettie promised she would be back. "How are you, Sophie?" "Fine. And you?" Lettie smiled. "I'm wonderful! I've just met a man and I think he might be the one!" Lettie went on about some man called John, but Sophie had tuned her out. The last thing she wanted to hear about was a man. It reminded her every time she was all alone. "Sophie?" "Yes?" "Were you listening?" "Umm..." "You simpleton!" Lettie playfully hit her on the arm and Sophie hit back until someone informed her the éclairs were ready. Sophie figured it was best to go. She kissed her sister goodbye and rode the train home. No one was home yet so she trudged upstairs to bed.

Sophie awoke to the bath water running above her. She sat up and attempted fixing her hair. Deciding it was best to get on with her day, she went down to the hat shop. "Sooooophie!" "Mother! I didn't know you were here!" Her Mother rarely showed up but when she did it was surprise visits. "Just look at the hat I got in Kingsbury. You're going to _love _it there." "Wait, what?" "Sophie...I'm moving to Kingsbury. I don't want you being here you're whole life- especially with the war going on- so you're coming with me." "Mother...I love it here though. What about Lettie?" "She would come too, of course." Sophie didn't have anymore excuses. It was best to tell a fib. "I met someone." "We'll take him with us." Does she solve everything by taking people away? "Fine. I'll go." "Sophie. When we get there, I forbid you from working in hat shops." "Why?" "It's only what's best. I love you, dear. Now go pack." Sophie didn't want to go, even more now that she wasn't allowed to work in hat shops. She stuffed everything she owned in a small suitcase and went back down to her Mother. She had left. "Mother?" "So- mmph!" "Mother?" Sophie went towards where her Mother had called her. "Sophie!" Two men in black caps were holding her Mother down on the floor. "Mother!" Sophie ran forward, pushing one of the men forward. She grabbed her Mother before the other man could touch her. They dashed to the automobile her Mother came in. "What a thrill, Sophie." Sophie leaned back in her seat, her heart pounding against her chest. "Let's never do that again." "Agreed." They picked up Lettie, who was more than happy to move to Kingsbury. "Ooooh, I'm so excited!" "Lettie, what about that man you met?" "Didn't I tell you? He lives in Kingsbury. Of course you wouldn't know that considering you didn't listen to my story." They continued driving, their Mother telling the all about how they had probably been robbed. Sophie said it was alright, there wasn't much there anyway. "Oh, I'll have to fire those girls. I kind of liked them, too." "Then don't fire them," Sophie said. "What will they do? We're closing the shop." "That's not what Father would have wanted." "Sophie, don't you dare play the Father card." "I'm sorry, but it's only true." Her Mother was silent for the rest of the way.

It was dark by the time they got to Kingsbury. They stopped at a brown building. "We'll stay here till morning then go the rest of the way." "We're not there yet?" "Of course not. This is lower Kingsbury. We're going to Northern Kingsbury, where the rich people are." "But Mother, we're not rich." "Not right this second, but we will be." "How so?" "We just will be." Their Mother climbed out of the car to the brown building, which was marked as: Larry's Inn. 'Sounds fancy' Sophie thought sarcastically. "Ugh, how awful," Lettie said. "It's just for the night." Sophie climbed the steps and held the door open for the other two women. Just as she was walking in a powerful wind knocked her down. She blacked out in a matter of seconds.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sophie!" Sophie slowly sat up and large dog came running back toward her. A man with golden blonde hair followed the dog. "I'm terribly sorry, miss! Bad dog, Heen!" The man squatted down next to her. "Are you alright?" "I'm fine, thank you." He held out his hand and she hesitantly took it. "My name is Howl, by the way." "Sophie. Nice to meet you." "Because my dog knocked you down, allow me to take you out to lunch tomorrow. Say, twelve o'clock?" "I'm sorry but we're only here for the night. We're leaving first thing tomorrow morning." "A shame. You could stay here just a little longer." Howl winked at Sophie then turned to flash a smile at her Mother. "Oh, we can stay just a little longer, Sophie." "Mother!" Lettie giggled and whispered to Sophie, "You're so lucky,sis! Who would've thought you to get the man?" Sophie glared at her and went inside the inn without another word. She was angry. This wasn't planned. There wasn't room for new people. It was bad enough Mother was a gold-digger and encouraging Sophie to do the same. After Sophie worked everything out with the manager-who's name actually wasn't Larry, what a disappointment- she headed up to their room. They would eventually figure out she had left. Until then, she was content on just being here alone. Grabbing her bag, she pulled out what her Mother forbade of her. A single unfinished hat. She sewed sparkly pieces on until there was a knock on the door. "Who is it?" "Delivery!" That was ridiculous. She had been here not even twenty minutes. "Oh, really now?" "Yes. This is where Sophie Hatter is staying, correct?" She sighed and put the hat away. "Yes." Opening the door, she was surprised to see the blonde man, Howl. "Delivery, eh?" "Yes, dear Sophie. You've won a Howl!" "...I was hoping for something more useful." "But you don't know what Howls can do!" "Be positively annoying and rude." "Ah, good guess. But wrong. They can also be very loving and caring." "What are you implying?" "Sophie, even though I've only known you for a couple minutes, I believe I'm in love with you." "Eeek!" There were squeals from behind the door and then the sound of heels tapping away quickly. "Don't be stupid, Howl. Now, if you would, please get out." "Sophie..." "How could you possible love someone like me? I'm not beautiful like all the other girls. Just take Lettie, she's much better than I could ever be." "No! That's not true." Sophie turned away from Howl and left her room. Practically running out of the inn, she turned a sharp corner and almost tripped over her dress. She sat on the corner and tried to gather her thoughts. "What do we have here? A street rat?" Sophie looked up and saw a large woman clad in black standing by two men in suits. "What a tacky outfit. And you yourself are quite tacky as well." "Who might you be?" "Does it really matter?" "I suppose not but since you're standing there insulting me I believe it should." "...Very well. I am Gertrude." Sophie stuck her hand out. "Sophie Hatter." "What a hideous name." "Oh, is that so? I happen to like it." "Of course you would. Just remember to keep it." With that the woman went away. "What was that about?" Sophie gasped when she heard the increasingly familiar voice. "Howl..." "Oh, you know my name?" "Unfortunately." Howl swung his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "Good luck forgetting it, darling." Howl finally left Sophie alone to her own thoughts. What's with people and their names around here?

A/N: Yay, Howl is finally here. Sorry this chapter probably made no sense. Does anyone know who Gertrude is? So, if you have questions or comments, put in the review section. There's probably only one more chapter after this.


	3. Chapter 3

Sophie stayed up late, thinking all about Howl. Why did he love _her_? He was a handsome man, why would he lower standards? By the time she fell asleep, it was around four in the morning. She instantly regretted letting herself be lost to the clutches of sleep. For she had a terrible nightmare.

It was cold. That's all she could feel. She seemed to have been strapped down. But that wasn't the case. She was just frozen. There was suddenly a large black dripping monster above her. "Ahh!" Sophie screamed. "Sophie." The voice was gruff and hoarse. "Listen to me. I don't have much time but you won't listen to me. That woman Gertrude. You remember her?" Sophie quickly nodded. "Don't let her steal your name. If she steals your name then your soul is gone. Down into the deepest depths of hell. Protect it Sophie. It could cost your life." Sophie lurched up in bed. "Howl!" That's who it had been. Howl in disguise so she would listen. Why would anyone want to steal her soul? That's ridiculous. But...maybe Howl was leading her straight. Maybe...she should listen for once. She looked out the window, surprised it was bright outside. She glanced at her watching, seeing it was already 9:30. She was going to be late!

She ran down the stairs, a piece of bread clamped between her teeth. "Mother! Lettie!" No one was there. Not even the owner. Oh, wait. There was Heen sleeping on a couch. Sophie walked over to him, a loose floorboard creaking under her foot. Heen sat up and stared at her. "Hello." Has she gone completely mad? Here she was, talking to a dog. Heen wheezed as if in response, his head just barely missing the couch from when he lifted and dropped it. "Sophie. You're up." Howl. Why did he always just appear out of the blue? "You noticed." "How did you sleep?" "Fine. And you?" "Good actually. I had a very pleasant experience talking to someone." Was he talking about invading her dreams? Sophie couldn't be sure with that haughty gleam in his eye. "Would you like to go for a walk?" "Why not?" Howl took her hand and led her outside. "A lovely day, isn't it? Seems like it was made especially for you, Sophie." Sophie blushed dark red. As fake as Howl seemed, his words were genuine and very, very sweet. Up ahead there was five people talking avidly. The closer they got, Sophie came to realize it was her Mother, Lettie, Gertrude, and the two men in suits. "Mother!" "Oh...Sophie." She rushed forward to meet them, Howl trailing quietly behind. "Come on, street rat." "What?" "Sophie. I'm so sorry. She says she knows where Daddy is." "So?" "I traded you for her to tell me. I'm sorry!" What a hypocrite her Mother was. Just yesterday she had said to not use the Father card. Now here she was, trading her own life just to see a man she traded jewelry and kisses with to seal their own lives. She didn't care about her own flesh and blood. She didn't care what happened to her. Her eyes said it all. Even it she verbally said sorry, she didn't mean it. "Goodbye, Sophie." "Mother...Lettie, is she serious?" "I'm afraid so." Sophie was angered. Her _life_. What right did her Mother have to trade it? What a joke. Sophie grabbed Howl's hand and ran down the street with him, hailing the nearest cab. If her life was being traded, she would run until no one could find her.

**A/N: OTL I am SO sorry. I haven't updated this in a month. So, hopefully this longer chapter makes up for it...? I fairly liked this chapter. A sudden twist, yay. Cliffhanger, yay. Alright, please R&R! ^.^**


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